Genetic-based dating app works to find true love using your DNA

The first question out of Asma Mirza’s mouth when she makes a new acquaintance these days is, “Are you single?” If she gets a yes, the 27-year-old CEO quickly follows up with a request to swab the inside of her new friend’s cheek, in hopes it will help them find true love.

Often, people look at her like she’s crazy. They’ll ask, “What does my DNA have to do with love?”

According to an ever-growing body of scientific research, the answer is: quite a bit. That’s why Mirza and 26-year-old geneticist Brittany Barreto have spent the last year huddled in their downtown Houston office, working steadily to launch the nation’s first genetics-based dating app, Pheramor.

Their phone-based app, which they plan to officially roll out in February, combines genetic information with data gleaned from social media posts to create user profiles.

“Scientists can actually predict who’s attracted to whom,” Barreto explained. “It has to do with your pheromones.”

And the genes that control those ever-important pheromones can be analyzed through a simple cheek swab. …

“Genetic-based human attraction has to do with pheromones. And when we smell pheromones, what we’re actually smelling is how diverse someone’s immune system is compared to our own,” Barreto explained, matter-of-factly.

“Evolution is very strong. So we’re smelling each other, trying to figure out who is the best person to mate with,” she continued. “And that’s what love at first sight actually is. It’s smelling someone’s pheromones from across the room, and your brain says, ‘Oh my Gosh, that’s the most perfect pheromone profile I’ve ever smelled in my entire life. I love them.'” …

“All the research shows that initial attraction through your genetics is what will get two people together,” Mirza said. “But what fulfills a longtime relationship is commonalities. So the way we account for both of those is through your genetics, and then through your social media.”